About the author:
David Tuffley PhD is a Lecturer at Griffith University in Australia where he lectures in Philosophy. David is passionate about helping people to self-actualize by learning how to achieve their full potential as a human being. To develop global consciousness, to see oneself as connected with everything in the world, and to develop a sense of responsibility and reciprocal obligation.

When not engaged in academic pursuits, David likes nothing better than communing with Nature by spending time in the forest, the mountains and the sea. Much of his inspiration to write comes directly from Nature.

The Art of Strategic Non-Action

Learning to go with the flow

Authored by
David Tuffley

Strategic non-action is a powerful yet under-rated method of influencing worldly affairs. In cultures where action is favoured over inaction, like in the West, direct action is considered a virtue while inaction is little more than laziness or cowardice. Let us be more subtle and nuanced in our understanding. There is a time for both action and inaction.

Non-action gives access to a deeper intuitive awareness than that gained through action, since knowledge that comes through action is obscured by situation-specific reactions.

Non-action is an aspect of going with the flow, not resisting the larger forces that govern a world of which you are a small part. It acknowledges that events are governed by the laws of Nature, and it is often best to simply allow those laws to operate and play out in their own time, in their own way.

Non-action can help us towards our goals by encouraging patience and taking the long-view. Humanistic Psychology says that it is within our reach to create the life we want for ourselves. As we think and believe, so we create our world. This is indeed true, but only up to a point. We can transform our lives in goal fulfilling ways, but the transformation is relatively slow, its progress measured in months and years.